Paul to Try to Nullify Obama's Executive Actions

Accusing President Obama of trying to wield power like a monarch, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will introduce legislation to nullify the executive actions on gun control announced yesterday.

"Our founding fathers were very concerned about having a separation of powers, they didn't want to let the president become a king. And so, they wanted to say that Congress was the one to legislate not the president. So we have a bill that we're going to introduce early next week and in this bill, we will nullify anything the president does that smacks of legislation," Paul said last night on Fox.

"And there are several of the executive orders that appear as if he's writing new law. That cannot happen. We struck down once, the court struck Clinton down for trying this and I'm afraid that President Obama may have this king complex sort of developing and we're going to make sure that it doesn't happen."

Paul noted that when Obama couldn't get cap-and-trade legislation passed, he used regulatory actions to achieve his desired result.

"There's a lot of precedent for this," he said. "But it's been a long battle that we've been losing gradually and even Republican presidents have also usurped their executive privilege to exert more authority than the Constitution gave them."

The senator hinted that he could have the support of colleagues such as Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) or Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who have already come out against the president's proposals.

"I think there are a few Democrats that will worry about going home to West Virginia or other states like that and voting for a ban on guns. So, I think there is a good chance we can stop his legislative action. I'm concerned he will try to do the regulatory fiat, what he can't pass through legislation," Paul said.

"This idea of checks and balances and separation of powers should be a fundamental one that Democrats and Republicans alike would support, but I'm afraid that there isn't much support on the Democrat's side, but we'll see."